The Maples Niseko — Hotel in Kutchan

We stayed for 5days. It was absolutely amazing. We were first welcomed by Bevan with his widest smile and warmest welcome at the bus stop when we arrived. He kindly helped us with our numerous luggages. We stayed in a 2 bedroom-room. Everything was spotless; facilities were in pristine condition and more equipped than our own home for such a size and a hotel. It was so comfortable, clean and beautiful. We had a beautiful view with their ultra huge windows. Waking up to such view was breathtaking. Amenities were generous and of best quality. ALL THE STAFF, ALL! were beyond amazing. They’re always so friendly and so cheerful, made us felt so welcomed everytime there is a contact, whenever I or any of us bumped into them or walked in the hotel. Oscar was so kind and warm. My family felt so comfortable chatting with him when he gave us a ride in and out of the hotel. That short encounter with him but gave us such a memorable moment getting to know him and him sharing information with us about Mr Yotei. He was so patient as to wait for us when we took a few photos. Oh yes, they provide us rides within a certain radius. They helped us with rides to hotel when we rented our ski gears from Rhythm. And they could also help us return the rented gears, saving us the logistics and trouble. How convenient! There were also lockers for the gears. When a locker wasn’t sufficient for our family of 5, they offered additional locker for free. One of the days, my daughter was frustrated over her eye accessories fogging up that it ruined her skiing experience as she deemed it a safety hazard. She went back to the locker room crying. Jayme Huysamen was at the locker room and tried to help her. He was genuinely concerned. My daughter was touched by his gesture of kindness. Jayme also went through all the effort to find out information and had them all written down for us when I asked about activities and places to visit in Niseko. Rainbow, as her name reflected, is filled with colourful personality. Equally welcoming and helpful. The guys could physically assist us, the ladies would be helpful with information and other matters. Alfred so readily stretch out to assist when I just stopped him for the littlest help like tap into the lift for my floor when I was alone. For safety, he would also check if anyone in my room who could enable me to enter my room. All in all, it was just perfect vacationing and skiing at The Maples. We could even just ski right out of the hotel! Could play with snow there with their sleighs. The restaurant was also nice. Although they serve non Japanese food : pizzas. The dough was so well done. The staff were also very welcoming. Love how they would again acknowledge us thereafter even days after the dining experience. Such great manners. We couldn’t even bear to leave. The huge bear became a part time pet for us. While the staff named it Stewart, we named it Jeremy 😅. (Because I think “Stewart” isn’t little but huge there) I would like commend on the other staff too, but didn’t get their names. But the ones mentioned were ones we had repeated encounter with. Jayme especially, actually, specifically bidded goodbye to us knowing that we were leaving. Cutest part was he joked about he deliberately came to work to send us off. Had us all laughing with the warmest emotion just before leaving. Really looking forward to returning to the Maples. It was just a vacation, but it...

We had the most amazing time in Niseko and at The Maples! The location is perfect. The snow in Niseko is as good as everyone says. ||My thoughts:|-Recommend getting a ride to The Maples from the Welcome Center if you are taking the bus. It's not a long walk but with luggage it's not fun. I regret not booking a ride. |-We were in room 101. I'm not sure if this was an upgrade or we just got lucky but it was so spacious. 2 bedroom 2 bath with pretty much a full kitchen. Perfect location with view of family run and you can watch the lift so I was able to see my kids going by when I wanted to relax in the room. It is right next to elevator down to ski locker room so it was very convenient. If we had been on a higher floor we would have to take one elevator to the first floor then a different elevator to the ski lockers. There were times we forgot something in the room and had to go back up, but it wasn't so bad. Also this unit has the first locker closest to the door out to the run. |-Room was very quiet. Never heard any noise from the hallway or above us. |-For rental gear, I recommend Rhythm Summit over Rhythm Niseko as Rhythm Niseko is on a road without sidewalks. Or you can ask shuttle to drive you there, but we walked thinking we would have shops or restaurants to see along the way. Both locations are about a 5 min walk. Rhythm Summit is downhill. Rhythm will drive you back to The Maples with your gear. There are also other rental places but with Rhythm, you can scan a QR code and return your gear right in the lobby of The Maples and they will pick it up. So easy!|-Front desk staff was very helpful. After we got our snowboard gear back to the hotel, we realized we had gotten 2 left boots. Tiger at the front desk helped with boot exchange. He called Rhythm and was able to have them bring us a pair of boots to exchange. He even walked it outside to us. |-5-7 min walk to Seico Mart for food and groceries. Uphill coming back. There's also a convenience store across the street but they don't have as many food options.|-In room amenities:| -Double clothes rack with hangers.| -Clothes drying rack.| -Washer/dryer is tiny. Soap in room. Dryer takes hours so better to hang dry. | -Towel warmers in bathrooms, good for drying gloves too.| -Everything you need in kitchen to prepare basic meals. We got eggs and bread to make for breakfast. Toaster. Microwave. Dishwasher dish soap sponge. Drying rack. Nespresso machine, French press, electric water kettle. | - Vacuum if you need for vacuum bags. This was super helpful for repacking all our winter clothes.|-Van can take you all over Hirafu town. |-Onsen at The Vail was nice. Not crowded after 8pm. ||The negatives:|-No onsen on site.|-People talk about the smell in the locker room. It wasn't pleasant but it was tolerable. |-The bathroom in the locker room was out of service.|-The pizza place is overpriced. |-Restaurants in town mostly require reservations for dinner. Eating out is quite pricy.||All in all, we LOVED our stay at The Maples and hope to...

We just completed a 6 night family holiday at The Maples. 6 adults and a toddler. We stayed in an Apartment and adjoining studio with a direct view from our open plan living area onto the Family Ski run. Just magical to wake up and watch the sun rise every morning. Loved the ledge to just sit and watch. The apartment was modern, extremely clean, comfortable and spacious. Very warm with underfloor heating. Full kitchen facilities for self-catering was very handy (especially with a toddler). As was the washer/dryer facilities. The family really loved the convenience of ski in/ski out. Locker facilities were clean and spacious. Staff were all very helpful, attentive and welcoming. The (adult) kids appreciated the on-call pick up/drop-off in the local area. Very detailed and helpful information provided with the Guest Information Package located in the room. Close to loads of facilities including Welcome Centre (where can catch buses to other areas), restaurants (note you need to try to book as early as possible or try going very early or you may be disappointed), range of food truck selections in the vicinity and the Seico Supermarket but the hidden gem is the DrugStore that along with pharmacy products also has a fantastic range of supermarket products including more familiar western foodstuffs and excellent range of alcohol options all within 30m. The Pizza Restaurant on the ground floor has awesome pizza’s and do takeaway - so convenient. We also took advantage of the Physiotherapy services on level 1 - each room gets 1 discount voucher. 3 of us had a massage and super impressed with friendly service and quality. Helped relieve those aches and pains. Everything was superb. The only minor issues, which are all first world problems, was that we found the small dishwasher often needed a second cycle; condensation around the aluminium windows so had to wipe down regularly so didn’t wet clothes or cushions; be good if pizza restaurant was able to link payments to room; shower/bathroom facilities great and spacious but there was no bath which with a toddler is more convenient; no onsite onsen but there is a link with The Vales which is a convenient walk down the street and around the corner and only 1500 yen. Thanks for a wonderful stay....